State v. Carpenter

551 N.W.2d 518, 250 Neb. 427, 1996 Neb. LEXIS 143
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 28, 1996
DocketS-95-967
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 551 N.W.2d 518 (State v. Carpenter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Carpenter, 551 N.W.2d 518, 250 Neb. 427, 1996 Neb. LEXIS 143 (Neb. 1996).

Opinion

Connolly, J.

Todd C. Carpenter was found guilty by the district court for Lancaster County of two counts of transferring a motor vehicle without stating the actual mileage to the best of his knowledge and belief, pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-2303 (Reissue 1988). The court also found Carpenter guilty of one count of knowingly causing an odometer of a motor vehicle to be changed to reflect a mileage different from what had actually been driven, pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-2301 (Reissue 1988). The district court sentenced Carpenter to 3 years’ probation. Carpenter appeals the district court’s decision. We determine that § 60-2303 is unconstitutionally *429 vague and thus reverse Carpenter’s convictions under that section. However, we determine that § 60-2301 is constitutional and that there was sufficient evidence to sustain Carpenter’s conviction under that section. We therefore affirm in part, and in part reverse.

I. BACKGROUND

Carpenter Motors, Inc., is a Nebraska corporation in the business of selling used motor vehicles. Its principal place of business is located in Lincoln, Nebraska. Carpenter is the secretary/treasurer, vice president, and employee of Carpenter Motors. As such, Carpenter’s duties include selling vehicles and purchasing vehicles for resale.

1. Count I

In July 1991, Carpenter Motors purchased through the Metro Auto Auction in the Kansas City, Missouri, area a 1989 Ford Taurus from the D.L. Peterson Trust Company. The buyer’s copy of the “Title Warranty and Bill of Sale” listed the mileage on the odometer as 23,048. In a separate space on that document was written, “AS IS” and “Over Mech Limits.” Carpenter’s signature appears on the “buyer’s signature” line. The odometer disclosure statement from the D.L. Peterson Trust Company was not received into evidence.

Later that month, Timothy Haakenstad purchased the 1989 Ford Taurus from Carpenter Motors. Haakenstad testified that at the time he purchased the vehicle, the odometer displayed approximately 24,000 miles. Haakenstad further testified that Carpenter told him that the vehicle had been a rental or leased vehicle, that the renter or lessee felt there was a discrepancy in the mileage, that it appeared to be a low-mileage car, and that it is customary for rental companies to get rid of their vehicles between 40,000 to 60,000 miles.

When the sale was consummated, Carpenter Motors provided Haakenstad with an odometer disclosure statement as required by Nebraska law. These statements are on a form prescribed by the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles that state in pertinent part:

I state that the odometer now reads _ . . . miles and to the best of my knowledge reflects the actual *430 mileage of the vehicle described herein, unless one of the following statements is checked.
□ (1) I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge the odometer reading reflects the amount of mileage in excess of its mechanical limits.
□ (2) I hereby certify that the odometer is NOT the actual mileage. WARNING - ODOMETER DISCREPANCY.

This form was signed by Ramona Hyde, an employee of Carpenter Motors, on behalf of Carpenter Motors. It stated that “the odometer now reads 23048 . . . miles,” and the second box was checked to indicate this mileage was not the actual mileage. At trial, Hyde testified that it was standard procedure for Carpenter to inform her which box, if any, to check for each car she sold. The first box, indicating that the odometer had exceeded its mechanical limits, was not checked.

2. Count II

In July 1991, Carpenter Motors purchased through the Metro Auto Auction in Kansas City a 1988 Ford Taurus from Premier Leasing Company. The buyer’s copy of the “Title Warranty and Bill of Sale” listed the mileage on the odometer as 7,460. In a separate space on that document was written “As is” and “Over Mech Limits.” Carpenter’s signature appears on the “buyer’s signature” line.

The odometer disclosure statement provided by Premier Leasing also indicated that “the odometer . . . now reads 7460 . . . miles.” The box on that form designated “Warning - Odometer Discrepancy” was checked, indicating that the reading was not the actual mileage. The box for certifying that the “odometer reading reflects the amount of mileage in excess of its mechanical limits” was not checked. Carpenter’s signature appears on the line designated “Transferee’s Signature - Buyer.”

In August 1991, Scott Johnson purchased the 1988 Ford Taurus from Carpenter Motors. Johnson testified that at the time he purchased the vehicle, the odometer displayed approximately 7,000 miles and that he asked Carpenter whether the *431 vehicle had exceeded the 100,000-mile mechanical limit on its odometer. Johnson testified that Carpenter told him that it had not. Johnson further testified that Carpenter stated that the original odometer had been broken and replaced, that the 7,000 miles had been registered on the replacement odometer, and that the broken odometer read about 50,000 miles when it was replaced.

Carpenter Motors provided Johnson with an odometer disclosure statement which indicated the mileage on the odometer to be 7,460. The second box warning that the indicated mileage was not the true mileage was checked. The first box, certifying that to the best of the transferor’s knowledge the odometer reading reflects the amount of mileage in excess of the odometer’s mechanical limits, was not checked. Carpenter’s signature appears on the “transferor’s signature” line.

3. Facts as to Good Faith Defense: Counts I and n

Carpenter testified that he called the Nebraska Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board sometime in 1990 to ascertain the proper method for filling out odometer disclosure statements in situations where the odometer in a vehicle had exceeded its mechanical limit and was not otherwise accurate. Corrine Fiel, an investigator for the Nebraska Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board, testified that she recalled Carpenter calling her sometime in 1990 with this inquiry. She advised Carpenter that she would have to discuss the matter with Bill Edwards, the director of the Nebraska Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board, to get a ruling.

After having spoken with Edwards, Fiel relayed Edwards’ advice to Carpenter: that he should check only one box — the second one indicating an odometer discrepancy. Carpenter testified that based on this advice, whenever it had been brought to his attention that Carpenter Motors received a vehicle in which there was any indication of a problem registering miles, Carpenter Motors would check the second box on the odometer disclosure statement warning that the indicated mileage was not the actual mileage.

*432 4. Count III

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
551 N.W.2d 518, 250 Neb. 427, 1996 Neb. LEXIS 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carpenter-neb-1996.